Troubled NBL offers cash to journalists in snacks box

Trouble-ridden National Bank, which suffered the highest loss in the banking industry, today held a press conference where its new board said they would inject Tk 1,000 crore through shareholders.

At the press conference at the headquarters of the bank, NBL's new chairman Khalilur Rahman told journalists that National Bank was their bank and he hoped everyone would write positively about the bank.

Rahman left the press conference in a hurry without answering all the questions from journalists, saying that that he had an appointment with the Bangladesh Bank governor.

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After the press conference, the bank officials offered packets with snacks to journalists. However, after taking the packet, journalists noticed that it contained an envelope with Tk 5,000 inside.

After seeing that, a group of journalists refused to take the packet of snacks and left the office.

A journalist told The Daily Star that it was very embarrassing for a bank to offer money to journalists for campaigning.

Contacted, NBL Managing Director Md Touhidul Alam Khan did not comment on the matter.

After incurring losses of Tk 3,285 crore in 2022, the oldest private bank suffered losses of Tk 1,497 crore in 2023.

NBL's bad loans stood at Tk 12,368 crore, which was 28.92 percent of its total disbursed loans, according to BB data.